That must have been an interesting experience. I love equipment-spotting the BBC - I wonder what they use for field recording these days? They used to use these:
Sony Pro Walkman. Serviced and Guaranteed. With case. Laser amorphous tape head Quartz lock system Disc drive mechanism Dolby B and C noise reduction Manual recording level control LED peak recording level meter Versatile input and output jacks for hook up to home hi-fi systems and external...
audiogold.co.uk
...very high quality for it's time and very robust, mine eventually died a death (quartz-timed motor). Now unrepairable. Aiming it for the bin was a sad day.